


what does it feel like to drown?

by PrincezzShell101



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Allison/Isaac mentioned lightly, Angst, Derek/Stiles mentioned but not really established, Episode Tag, Feels, Gen, Lydia/Stiles also mentioned lightly, Spoilers, mentions character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-13
Updated: 2013-08-13
Packaged: 2017-12-23 08:34:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/924168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincezzShell101/pseuds/PrincezzShell101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Basically this is Stiles's POV at the end of episode 3x11 and what's he's thinking as he prepares for death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	what does it feel like to drown?

**Author's Note:**

> Contains spoilers. If you haven't seen the episode then I suggest you watch it first.

The moment Stiles steps into the bathtub—the moment slushy, cold, below freezing water and small, chilled ice cubes touch his skin, everything is so shockingly electrified. His father's badge in his hand suddenly feels like the only thing grounding him to the real world, and he grips it tightly, fingers trembling around the steeled metal warmth like a lifeline, an anchor that keeps him  _here_ , not floating and drifting away from this place and over to the unknown place of nothingness that was  _there_.

Lydia's hands on his shoulders, the tight and desperate grip she has on him, is slowly becoming non-existent. His whole body is going numb, the icy, cold temperature of the water dissolving his body's heat and feeling—everything inside him is just… _sinking away_.

He can hear her breathing though, and that is all he really needs.

He also can hear Allison's small, shaky gasps from beside him—can just imagine how she must be feeling right now. He only hopes that Isaac is able to help keep her grounded, hopes he knows that he is the only thing right now that is helping guide Allison through this moment.

Scott, on the other side of him, Stiles  _can't_  hear. But he doesn't need to. One look at his best friend's face, muscles strained and jaw clenched, brown eyes wide and anxious, tells him everything he requires to know that Scott, even being a werewolf, is feeling the exact same way as he and Allison are.

Suddenly, something comes to him. Back at the hospital—the FBI agent.

He might as well let his best friend know, before it's too late. He  _deserves_ to know.

"By the way, if I don't make it back and you do, there's something you should know."

Scott turns to face him, and the look that his best friend gives him makes Stiles shudder, somehow the ice-cold water not even being part of the reason.

"Your dad's in town."

Every strong, left over resolve Scott holds in his features, just melts away at Stiles's words. After what feels like ages (though due to Stiles's body slowly shutting down, his time calculation is probably also going dim), must have been only a few seconds, Scott nods, the movement jerky. Stiles can't help but feel guilty that in his last moments, Scott will be faced with such a foreboding thought that will follow him into death.

Then comes forth the moment he's been dreading.

Deaton gives a small, silent nod.

_This is it._

He squeezes his father's badge once, so tight his fingers sting (though that's also probably the below freezing temperature of the water), and breathes in, a quiet breath of air— _his last_.

Suddenly the hands on his shoulders are pushing him down gently, his body slipping under, sinking into the water until he's fully submerged. He sees ice cubes bobbing in the water all around him, tiny green tendrils and leaves of mistletoe floating endlessly.

Most people would of course think that in his last moments, Stiles will think about the most obvious things.

Lydia.

His father.

His mother.

The situation that he was in, the state of affairs that were resulting in his death.

Sure, yeah, they  _all_ are things that he is thinking about.

 _Of course_ they are.

I mean, his dad is his  _dad_ , and he is doing all of this to  _save_ him. His mother is always, and always has been, a lingering memory in his mind. Lydia… Lydia  ~~was~~  had been the love of his life from third grade, the one to help him come down from his earlier panic attack by kissing him, and was the one pushing him under.

But above all those things,  _one_ name buzzes around in his mind.

And as he lets go, lets the water drown out everything that he was, everything that he  _is_ , that name seems to mean more than it has ever had.

 _ **Derek**_.


End file.
